


What Happened Across The Sea?

by Resian



Category: Dark Souls III, Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Guild Wars 2 (Video Game), Neverwinter Nights
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2020-05-15 05:51:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19289455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resian/pseuds/Resian
Summary: Jumping about in continuity, Ayogan and Sisylia embark from Baldur's Gate across the sea, west towards the Dralend Coast, in hopes of finding answers to what happened to the Sisterhood of Silver Scales, and most importantly, Sisylias memory.





	1. Chapter 1

She had kept a close watch on the clouds for the past several miles. The late hour made it difficult enough to travel the roads alone, and the last thing Sisylia wanted was to have the bottom of the clouds fall out from beneath them. She had only been walking for a few hours, but for some reason she felt it took her longer to walk back to Baldur's Gate from The Friendly Arm Inn than it did to reach the Inn from the Gate.  
  
Rounding a corner of the winding road, she saw the arches of Wyrm's Crossing come to view.  
'Just a bit further now, legs.' She thought, taking a deep breath trying to ignore her aching heels and calves as she kept a steady pace stepping on to the deck.  
  
Passing beneath the first of the three arches of the Crossing, she nodded to the Watchman standing diligently at his post. He had never spoken to her in the numerous times she had passed him in the months she had spent on the Sword Coast, only offering a kind smile in return to her likewise silent greetings.  
  
She had grown to appreciate the exchanges, as she knew it was one she wasn't required to actively engage in a conversation or maintain a dialogue of some kind. A silent fellowship of familiarity between the two that never lasted more than a few moments.  
  
Continuing down the pass towards Baldur's Gate, Sisylia saw the land illuminate in a flickering whiteness that faded just as quickly as it appeared. She paused on the bridge and looked to her left, gazing at the cloud filled night sky that seemed blacker than black, and after the crack of lightning that lit up her surroundings, to her still-readjusting eye, the storm over the water appeared even more ominous and threatening.  
  
The sight of the thunderhead over the bay distressed Sisylia. It reminded her of the painful unfamiliarity of her new setting. She thought about the circumstances that lead to her arrival on The Sword Coast, and more particularly what had lead her to wind up in the port city of Baldur's Gate, but quickly turned her thoughts from that path once faced with the dissonant memories that fought for prevalence in her mind. Everything else stopped making sense to her when she thought on it for too long. The cyclical nature of trying to consciously avoid certain thoughts began to aggravate her, since trying not to think about them only dug at other thoughts that also triggered a painful physical reaction.  
  
' _Get back home. Go. Watch the cobblestones. Look at the archways. The city is just ahead. Distract. Distract. Distract._ ' Her inner dialogue succeeded in diverting her attention to more menial things, and she was grateful for what little things could arrest her attention. Anything to prevent her from trying to remember... What happened across the sea?  
\-------  
  
As the sun set over the endless ocean, casting the last rays of light over the bay district of Baldur's Gate, activity in the streets began to dwindle and fizzle out almost entirely when the night took over the sky. Shops closed, citizens returned to their homes and inns, leaving few people out and about in the main city streets, and even less in the back alleys behind the main facade of establishments.  
  
At the far end of the last laneway, a four-plex building sat pressed against the wall that surrounded the city. These four buildings stood out from the rest by their unremarkable nature. Every other establishment was adorned with maritime decor and all manner of fishing tackle, lobster pots, nets, and old repurposed sailboat masts. I contrast, the building at the end of the laneway was devoid of any sign of residence. There were four doors on the front for each individual suite, but only the last building pressed against the city wall had any window to speak of, a small octagonal port hole that never showed a light inside.  
  
Her aching legs felt relief at the sight of her home, and her steady pace quickened to a brisk walk to close the last dozen meters that separated her from a much needed rest. The window was dark, just as it always was, but drawing closer, even through the dark of night she could tell that her door was slightly open.  
  
The swiftness she had found in the final stretch had vanished, replaced with apprehension that slowed her to a halt. Even at such a late hour, she knew it would be unwise to draw her weapon in the city limits, for the guardsmen seemed to have the ability to smell when a hand clasped the hilt of a blade, and would descend upon the offender with a swift and stern warning, and should the perpetrators weapon remain free, they were clearly asking for a fight anyway and would be summarily handled.  
  
Sisylia suddenly felt that she was being watched, and for a moment believed the source of the sensation was inside her home. For the briefest moment, she felt a hint of fear brush against her heart, and her lip curled in disgust at recognizing the emotion. Her disgust quickly turned to fury at the audacity of someone attempting to frighten her, and her hand came to rest on the hilt of her longsword.  
  
' _I'm... What am I doing..?!_ ' She questioned, shaking off the unease and once again resuming the pace to her door.  
' _All this time I've spent standing here in the road, I could have had over half of this armor unfastened! I could be **sitting down** finally!_'  
  
Stepping up the porch, she moved slowly to keep the noise from her rattling armor to a minimum. She looked back to scan the area behind her, specifically keeping her eye out for guardsmen. Satisfied that she was sufficiently out of their sight and effectively on her own property, she unsnapped the latch that kept her sword hidden and slowly drew it, bringing it to bear in front of her and reaching it out to poke the door with the tip to open it.  
  
The door opened with a ridiculously loud creak that rang out for as long as it swung on its hinges. Her door had never so much as squeaked before, and the sudden raucous racket put her on edge, but the weight of the blade in her hand eased her mind slightly. The door finished opening with its loud whine, and from the porch, Sisylia could see nothing was out of place.  
  
"Hello?" She called into the small room, "If there is anyone there, make yourself known." She commanded into the darkness to be met with only silence.  
"Trespasser, make yourself known!" She repeated, stepping into the room and craning her head to check each of the corners. The room was black, with only a small bit of light from outside spilling in from the octagonal window. The sky flashed white again as a massive strike of lightning broke across the sky. The illumination lasted for several seconds, but through the open door and the small window, it was enough light to assure Sisylia she was most likely alone.  
  
Standing in the doorway with her sword held ready before her, she appeared as still as a statue while listening for muted breaths or shifting weight. Watching the room darken as the lightning faded, she was soon satisfied that she was alone.  
  
A hushed exhalation escaped from her nose and she lowered her weapon, cracking a grin at the foolishness of the ordeal. As the sword descended, the storm bellowed a wall rattling thunder that brought everything to a head for Sisylia. The sudden explosion of noise in such a silent setting and after such a nerve wracking few moments caused her to yelp and scramble inside, grabbing the door and slamming it with a reckless amount of force that rattled the walls in its own way.  
  
She gave the door a sidelong sneer, slowly easing into a smile upon realizing that she was finally home. She could finally relax.  
"Praise Tyr, now I can shed this weight..." she spoke aloud to herself, sheathing her blade and disarming herself.  
  
Sisylia stood behind the closed door of her modest home which was now considerably darker inside. The nearly blacked out room was had meager furnishings, only the things Sisylia deemed absolutely vital. A cot to sleep on, a rack for her armor, a desk, a bookshelf, a small partition wall that gave her washroom a decent bit of privacy, and a small mirror. She was familiar enough with the layout and consistent enough in her routine that she could navigate the process of shedding her plate armor and taking care of whatever else needed handling before settling in for the night.  
  
Out of her armor and in a patchwork threadbare tunic and matching pants, Sisylia shifted around her room and sat on her cot, letting her face rest in her hands. She had yet to remove the lose bandages she wore to hide the left side of her face. Feeling the rough fabric against she palm of her hand, she carefully untied the knot on the back and took the wrap to meticulously fold it and set it on her nearby desk for tomorrow.  
  
As she reached over to the desk, the sky lit up again with lightning, and the port hole octagon let the white flash illuminate her room for a few seconds. The light was fleeting, but shone long enough for Sisylia to catch a sufficient glimpse of her reflection in the nearby mirror. Barely three seconds passed, but seeing herself made them drag on much longer than she would have liked.  
  
The sight of her scar always felt like a blow to the stomach. She lamented over how prominent it was and how it was so virtually impossible to hide save for her makeshift bandage wrap that was more designed to protect it than hide it, but it served both purposes equally well.  
  
The scar covered most of the left side of her face, including her eye, from her forehead to just beneath her ear. Her rusty auburn hair was long enough to cover the area around her temple where hair wouldn't grow anymore.  
  
Looking at it made her head begin to ache, as the visual reminder began to dredge up memories that she was unable to process. She couldn't even remember how she got it. Remembering that she couldn't remember caused her a sharper ache, and she hurried to think of what she could remember. She thought about waking up, her body braced in all manner of makeshift splints, wrapped in bandages and surrounded by restorative herbs and tinctures. An old man leaned over her, holding a massive shade above them. They were in a boat.  
  
Grounding herself in substantial memories, she felt the ache in her head fade while she recalled more instances beyond her reawakening, but the reminiscing was cut short by the sound of something stepping onto her porch. A nearly silent 'clack, clack, clack, clack, clack' strode across the planks. Still sitting on her cot and facing the door, she could feel a presence on the other side of her door.  
  
Recalling her door being open when she had returned earlier, she froze in place and listened to the door for a while, hearing the wind of a powerful exhalation puff against the bottom of her door. Chills ran up her spine at the unknown breath, made worse by the scratching at the door that followed. Long scratches dragged from beneath the door handle to the floor. Four scratches, and then another breath beneath the door. She heard it breathe, then whine. The sound of walking, 'clack, clack, clack, clack' and then nothing as whatever was outside stepped off her porch.  
  
Sisylia gasped to catch her breath, trying to shake off the anxiety that gripped her. After several silent moments of listening for the visitor to return, she stood from her cot with a speed of chilled molasses and approached her little port hole window.  
  
In the street in front of her house stood a massive wolf, staring expectantly right at the window with its tail lowered. Sisylia saw it notice her, but she made no effort to hide from it anymore. The wolf continued to stare before turning its body to face the docks, and turning its head back to look at Sisylia. She watched and subconsciously shook her head, worried about the entirety of her evening and the events unfolding before her. The wolf looked back to the docks and hung its head. She thought it looked exhausted. It lifted its nose and began to howl, only letting a few seconds ring through the city before stopping, realizing it had caught unwanted attention. Its ears perked up, and it looked off to the city before turning its whole body one last time to Sisylia, clearly beckoning for her, before opening into a sprint towards the docks.  
  
"But... I wanted to go to sleep..." Sisylia grumbled, slipping sandals on her feet and cracking the door to follow the animal.


	2. The Secret He Keeps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jumping about in continuity, Ayogan and Sisylia embark from Baldur's Gate across the sea, west towards the Dralend Coast, in hopes of finding answers to what happened to the Sisterhood of Silver Scales, and most importantly, Sisylias memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe once enough of this is thrown out I can order it correctly where it makes sense. Right now though with some jumping around it should be cohesive enough I do reckon. :D
> 
> Also it goofed up my indention and lines but I dont want to figure out how to redo it all so hheeereee

Having weathered the storm and managing to keep their craft afloat, the two took a simultaneous deep breath, one exhaling an exhausted sigh, and the other cresting into an excited cheer for what they had just accomplished.  
Sisylia slumped against her bench and groaned, leaning back and casting her exasperated gaze to the sky, errant lingering raindrops causing her uncovered eye to flinch.  
Ayogan stood in the boat and lifted his hands to the night sky, beaming wildly and yelping an enthusiastic cheer before bringing himself to sit across from Sisylia, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees with steepled fingers.

“Well… We survived that.” He said after a considerable length of silence.  
Sisylia picked her head up and shot a glance to him before pulling herself up and righting her posture, mirroring him on her seat and facing him. She had finally acclimated to the boats motions, but was trying to be certain she wouldn’t succumb to motion sickness again. She leaned forward and rested her head in her hand.  
“We did…” She agreed, turning to her side to glimpse the wide open sea before looking back down to the boats floor. “But will we survive… This?” She asked before gesturing vaguely to everything that surrounded them.  
“What do you mean?” He asked. He was slightly crestfallen upon hearing the tone of her voice, but after a very brief reflection, he understood. The circumstances of their boarding and departure from Baldur’s Gate did not go as he planned in the slightest. The storm he had planned arrived earlier than he expected, and the strange men that followed the two to their boat and the following confrontation had started their journey on the wrong foot entirely.  
“Oh, oh…” He continued, trying to think of how to reassure her. “Yes. We’ll most absolutely survive this, my dear. I’ve a plan, after all.” He smiled and tapped a finger against his temple.

“Well. I’m glad you do…” She said, her words falling quiet.  
Ayogan sighed and took off his hat.. His long hair fell to cover his face for a moment before he brushed it back as he sat up.

“In the hopes that it might put your mind at ease, may I share it with you?” He offered timidly.  
She picked her head up and her stare pierced him. She didn’t need to respond, so he continued.  
“How long have we been on the Sword Coast, Sisy? A few months? Half a year, maybe?”  
“I don’t remember…” She sighed. Her hand on her forehead visibly flexed as she clutched her face.  
“Just over seven months, if I counted right.” He noted, taking his hat and plucking a handful of tiny roots from its brim. He began twisting the little fibers together, making two bundled. He popped one in his mouth and held the other out to Sisylia. “Take this, and chew at it. Don’t eat it, though.”  
Sisylia took the bundled roots and did as he suggested. Within moments, she relaxed and her posture loosened, the effects of the root bundle letting her pain slip away. She shivered and shook her head and wiped her face with her hand.  
“Thank you. I needed that.” She said almost in a whisper. He nodded and set his hat back atop his head. Watching her pain fade away was all the thanks he needed, and he noted, “Any time, my dear. Glad I can help. If that’s set in as quickly as it seems, may I ask you some questions? I don’t want to cause any upset, but there are some things we need to cover.”  
“I’ll do my best,” She said with a nod, slowly removing the wrap from her face to present herself entirely unmasked.  
Ayogan bowed his head and blocked the view of her face with his hat. He knew she didn’t like anyone to see her scars, and tried to accommodate her unspoken request.  
“How is it?” She asked bluntly. The sudden question out of nowhere stunned him, and he reflexively lifted his head to meet her gaze. He felt his facial expression give away his true feelings, and tried to ease his response.  
She looked at him with the folded cloth in her lap. It was rare for her to remove the veil, and even rarer for her to be so openly curious about what others thought about it, including this man she had known her entire life.  
Even in the clouded moonlight, Ayogan could see the scarred features of the right side of her face. Her cheek and eyelid seemed as if they were being gently pulled to her ear, and a small area near her temple was without hair. Her right eye failed to open completely, and he could see the extent of its damage despite its refusal to go blind.  
Looking her over, he once again felt his heart break, all while absorbing as much of the sight that he could while she allowed him to. He had so few chances to see her as she truly was, and took whatever opportunity given to see her as she truly was.

“How is it…?” He asked, trying to compose himself. “I don’t know about it, my dear… But you’re as lovely as you’ve ever been.” He lowered his head, knowing his answer didn’t address what she had asked, but knowing that he couldn’t articulate how he really felt.

“Not to… dodge the question, just-”  
“No, no…” She started. Her smile appeared briefly, and he just happened to glance up from beneath his hat to see it.  
“Thank you.” She continued, almost silently. Finding a balance in the conversation, she tucked the veil away and continued, “What was it you wanted to ask me?”

Snapping back to the moment, Ayogan nodded and pressed on with his explanation.  
“I need to know everything you remember from across the sea. I know it’s painful to think about sometimes, but we need to get to the bottom of everything that happened. I don’t know who those men were at the docks, but there are strange currents revolving around us as of late… You, particularly, but I’m no stranger to odd happenings.”

Sisylia sat quietly, thinking back several months. The effects of the root bundle were still in full swing, but the recollection caused her to hold her temple all the same. She sucked air through her teeth.  
“What do you mean exactly..? What I remember?” She asked, growing more uncomfortable with each passing moment.  
“Anything at all,” He said, “Whatever you can think of. Currently, I only have what I remember to go off of. May I try to jog your memory a bit?” He offered.

She nodded, “I’ll have a difficult time recalling otherwise…”

“Do you remember… The Cathedral?”  
“I remember the Cathedral. I remember the Order. … Silver Scales? The Sisterhood of Silver Scales..!” She exclaimed just before clutching her face again.  
“Excellent!” Ayogan said, trying to comfort her and offering another, smaller bundle of roots, which she took and swiftly chomped into. “What else? Can you draw out another memory? Do you remember your sisters?” He pressed.  
“I remember faces… No names. I remember…” She froze.  
Ayogan waited, peering back up from beneath his hat to catch the look on her face, and feeling the color drain from his. She didn’t seem to be in pain, but her expression struck fear into him. With that minor recollection entering her mind, a white hot fury began to glow somewhere deep inside her heart.  
“Rhaelen.” She whispered.  
Ayogan couldn’t place this aura she radiated. She was collected, still, and balanced, but he knew that at this critical moment, the impact of his next words could change their plans entirely.  
“Sisylia…” He began, trying to help ground her. “Can you remember any more? What did Rhaelen do?” He reached his hand out and placed it on the back of hers, trying to bring her from her mild trance.

She shook her head and snapped from her daze, losing her focus and reaching her free hand to her temple again. “Gan, I… I think I ate those roots.”  
He nodded and patted her hand. “I think you might have, my dear… They’ll only put you to sleep for a bit. I know this is the first time we’ve talked about these things, but… You’ve done a wonderful job of recalling things. We’ll take it slow. We’ve got quite a voyage. There’s plenty of time. Here, let me make a spot for you to get some rest.”

He crawled to an open area of the floor and set up a small bed mat for her to lay on.  
“Make yourself comfortable, my dear. While you rest, I’ll do some work on this boat to make us a bit more secure.” As he explained, he watched her use the last bit of her energy to swiftly adjust herself on the mat and curl up to sleep. He smiled and said, “Goodnight, Sisy.” Not expecting her to reply, which she didn’t.

He sat back on his bench and slumped forward, his mind racing, when he suddenly heard a voice in his mind that was not his own.  
“She will be fine.” The voice sweetly sang, trying to reassure Ayogan.  
“She will… But I just… Can’t help but think what would have happened…” He responded in thought.  
“If what? You didn’t make her life your business? If you didn’t come across that house in the forest when you did?”  
Ayogan didn’t respond, but sat watching Sisylia fall asleep, feeling a tightness in his throat at the questions pointed at him.  
“My love, you must not entertain these thoughts… They wound you so deeply, even when you know that things would have been so much worse if you had done nothing.”  
“I… Can’t help it. Look at her. Listen to her. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to relieve her from it all, but there’s nothing I can possibly do to make it better.” He thought, hanging his head.

Suddenly, he felt control of his body escape him, as if he was suddenly a passenger watching from inside his mind. He sat up and wiped tears from his face as he felt his body begin to grow rigid and immobile, his gaze coming to rest on the sleeping woman in front of him. The voice entered his mind again.

“We will do this the hard way if we must, my darling. I will not let you wilt into despair over decisions you’ve made that would have been so terrible for so many more people if you hadn’t stepped in.” The voice explained, and he felt his body lock solidly, forcing him to watch Sisylia sleep.

“Look at her. Listen to her. _YOU look at her. YOU listen to her._ Can you not hear her? Can you not see the trust this girl has placed in you over all these years? Can you not hear her seek your approval? Like a child seeks to impress their father? Look at her…”

Frozen in place, Ayogan felt his mind race with memories of Sisylia, from the night he met her as little more than an infant, to the day he approached the Sisterhood of Silver Scales with her, to the day he witnessed the Cathedral and the cliff side it was erected upon obliterated in dragons fire, to him just happening to find a wounded Sisylia on the Dralend coast line before pulling her into his boat and making a break for the Sword Coast.

His flashback rendered him immobile for nearly an hour as he wrestled with his own memories, though he was now equally agitated at his inability to move as he was with his past ineptitude. His raging emotions affected the voice in his mind, and the lullaby echo he had been conversing with began to deepen into a groaning, cracking growl.

“She… Will be fine… All will be… Made right… You will tell her of us… When she awakessssssss……”

Ayogan snapped to attention and shook his head, finding that he was suddenly back in control of his faculties once more. He looked himself over, stunned at the audacity of the Dryad to take such drastic steps, and realized his physique had grown considerably over his period of motionlessness.

“I’ll… Tell her tomorrow…” He said out loud. “Thank you, my love.”


	3. What Do You Find At The Edge of Creation?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sisylia wakes to find her companion in a peculiar way, lost at sea for as much as she can tell. Did they arrive at this place on purpose, or was it a navigation failure? She is just now starting to understand the depth of magic that exists in the world.

She slept much more easily than she had believed she would. The gentle rocking of the boat combined with the rhythmic lapping of the gentle waves against its hull lulled her into a restful slumber for the entire night. Even repositioning herself beneath the canvas cover, she could find no uncomfortable way to lay and immediately fell right back into the heavy sleep. She began to wake when she consciously realized the lapping of the waves had ceased, and an eerie silence surrounded their boat. She sat awake beneath the canvas for a long while, realizing that the boats rocking movements had waned as well. She could tell it was morning, but the light falling on the cover above was dimmed. Her curiosity got the better of her and she began to sit up, feeling her movements cause the boat to rock once more, confirming that they were still at sea.

Before removing the cover, she noticed the floor was crowded with lumpy things that weren't there before she went to sleep. She rolled onto one that softly jabbed her and caused her to inspect what was beneath her. Closer inspection revealed she was surrounded by tiny roots. She sat up and removed the canvas to see where Ayogan had sat the night before, a small tree had grown, covering the boat with searching roots and forming a modest bough above her that provided an excellent shade over the entire boat. Inspecting the tree from her seated position and still in her newly-awakened daze, she looked at the trunk of the tree and realized it had grown up and around Ayogan and trapped him inside. His body was twisted and his face looked pained, and the sight caused Sisylia to panic and scramble to her feet, shaking the boat and rousing him awake from his own sleep.

"Gan?! GAN! What in the world happened?!" She implored, her voice distraught at the unsettling sight of her friend having been turned into a tree. His hat was askew and grown into the wood, his clothes where gone, and his arms appeared twisted into shapes that his bones could surely not accommodate without being broken in a multitude of places.  
"What..? What? What do.." He began, waking into his own daze and thrown into confusion at her panic. He saw the boat rock and his expression became dire, "Sisylia! You must sit down, please! We can't risk capsizing!" He said in a quiet but stern voice.  
"Don't worry, don't worry!" He started, "I can explain, and would be happy to, but we MUST be sure to keep the boat steady! Please, relax and have a seat." His words were as kind as always, and his certainty over the situation reassured her quickly and she complied, settling back to her seat and curling her knees to her chest, looking at him with a great concern.

Ayogan panned his eyes around and examined their surroundings, or the surroundings he was able to see at the very least. Sisylia saw him scan the area and did so as well, and suddenly she felt even more distressed than she had from seeing Ayogans peculiar transformation.

"At least we made it..." He noted aloud to himself before taking a deep breath. His words were much slower than usual, and though his voice seemed labored, it was clear he was relieved.  
"Made it? Where did we make it to?" Sisylia asked, still looking around the boat and feeling more uncomfortable as the seconds passed from her ignorance of the situation. The boat sat in a thick fog bank, surrounded by a heavy mist on all sides and above. She could tell it was nearly midday, but the sun could not burn away the mist that encroached so closely on them. She carefully peered over the edge of the boat and saw glass-like water that barely rippled at the boat moved. Barely further than arms distance out of the boat, the mist obscured all vision. There was no horizon, no sky, no waves, and nothing to gain any kind of bearing with. Nothing but unyielding gray.

"We made it to the edge, my dear." He said, his face cracking a slow but pained smile. He took a deep breath and audibly struggled to speed his words to his normal pace of speaking and glanced down to her, still curled on the floor of the boat.  
"I suspect that fills you with more questions still..." He said, a smile cracking on his face. She cut a glance up to him and nodded sheepishly before looking back to where the horizon ought to have been.

"I do not imagine you would remember this place, considering you were unconscious during our last journey through here. I will try to explain it the best that I can. I suppose I should start with myself and what it is that you see before you, though I have a greater explanation in store for this. But as for now, just understand that for much of your life, you have been heavily shielded from knowing the wide array of different Magics that exist in the world. This is just a small sample of the Wild Magics that can be tapped into, should we only resolve to learn them. Look up there, at the longest branch. Do you see the budding flower?"

She looked upwards to the bough above and found among the leaves a large flower bud covered in fine white fuzz. "Yes, that?" She asked, pointing to it.

"That, indeed." He said with a smile. "It will blossom very soon, and it will produce a more, ah... 'definitive' answer, if I may only ask your patience."  
"Of course." She replied quickly and matter-of-factly. "Then... Elaborate on where we are. What 'Edge'? There is no edge of the ocean, it simply goes on forever." She said, the confidence present in her voice seconds ago faltering into a weak question. "Doesn't it..?"

"It... Mmm." He paused and thought for a moment. "It does, and it doesn't. It is The Edge of all that is known from where we came from. As far as anyone knows, the ocean DOES go on forever, but... There are places like this where strange things happen. Much like I mentioned that there are more kinds of Magic than anyone can understand, we are now in a place that even I do not fully comprehend. It is not necessarily by my design that we are here, either. But... That will become more clear very shortly when the flower blossoms."

He glanced up an gestured with his expression for her to look as well, and she noticed the petals had begun to open in the short time she had waited, still covered in their fine white fuzz that faded at the base.

"To explain this further, though. As nonsensical as it sounds, I am blessed with Wild Magic that wanes in efficacy so far East on the Sword Coast. This is somewhat of a 'spell' of mine, and my aim was to keep you protected from the unrelenting sun... or.. it was my initial aim, at least. The flower was secondary but still crucial to our plans."

"Plans? Whose plans?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at his choice of words.  
Realizing what he had said, he sighed and bit the inside of his cheek. "As I said, it will become clear. I am much more obliged to let you see for yourself, for that will do much better than any explanation I could offer." His face twisted in a painful grimace as he finished speaking.  
"Are you alright?" She asked, waiting for his pain to subside.  
"As alright as I can be." He began, his face twisting more as he appeared to struggle to get comfortable. "One of my roots has reached the saltwater, and it is... less than ideal. It won't harm me ultimately, but it tends to sting. It won't affect the flower, though. Speaking of which, it seems my efforts are fruitful, if you'll pardon the pun! Look, see!" He said, his face having forgotten the pain of the saltwater.

Sisylia looked up to the branch to see a pale green flower with waxy petals fixed where the fuzzy white bud had been just a short time ago. She began to stand to look closer, but the branch began to shift and sway and lowered itself to present the flower to her.  
"Mustn't stand in a boat, my dear. Should we flip, it very well may be the end of me." He said with a reassuring grin. "Here, pick this, but be very careful. I doubt I'll be able to make another."

Sisylia stared at the blooming flower for several moments, letting its powerfully sweet aroma waft through the air around her. Though they were still surrounded by the heavy mist, the scent of the flower made her feel like the air was clear with the sun lighting and warming the entire boat. She closed her eyes and smiled brightly, letting herself feel lost in the deluge of memories the alien aroma brought to her mind. Cupping it in her hands, she softly laughed to herself, enchanted by the presence of the beautiful specimen.

Its petals were shiny, covered in a smooth waxy film that caused it to glimmer from an unknown light source. Through the stillness of the air, she was convinced she could hear a gentle chiming coming from the multitude of filaments that sprang from beneath the petals.

"Before we continue, I must give you some warnings." He began, his tone shifted into a more serious register.  
Sisylia snapped out of her blissful state, letting her pleasant memories whisk away into the surrounding mists and looked to Ayogan to listen intently.

"That blossom is also a 'spell' of mine. There is only a short amount of time to use it, so you must listen carefully. Some of what I tell you may not make sense now, but it will, so take heed." His eyes darted away, as if he was listening closely for something far away.

"You must pluck the petals and consume them all at once. Following that, very quickly, you must squeeze what remains and cover your hand in the sap. Take some of the sap and smear a small amount on your forehead and chin. Once you have done this, you will soon hear the voice of a stranger, but you... And I cannot stress this enough... You must not be afraid. The Voice you will hear is a friend, and will serve to answer whatever questions your mind may conjure. Introduce yourself, and follow the Voice. Follow the Voice as closely as possible. Sisylia." He paused as she looked up to meet his stare. He seemed to have grown in size and towered over her ominously.

She nodded to acknowledge that she was listening.

"You. Must. Not. Lose. Track. Of The Voice. Am I understood? I plead with you, here and now. Do not be separated from the Voice, for great danger lies in these answers I offer, and it will keep you safe. You must trust the Voice as you trust me, for The Voice and I are one in the same, yet separate. You will know when to ask questions, and when to silently observe. To speak when you are meant to watch may jeopardize our collective safety. And above all, do not trust anyone you meet that does not speak with the Voice."

Sisylia sat with the flower still cupped in her hands, the scent trying to draw her back in to her joyous memories, but she kept her focus.  
"I understand. Where... Where will I go?" She asked, looking around into the emptiness that surrounded them.

"You will only drift into a pleasant sleep for a while. This Dream-blossom will do the rest. All you must do here is get comfortable and follow thise directions. Are you ready?"

She looked to the flower, then to his still grim glower, and back to the flower, and nodded. "I am ready." She said, mostly to reassure herself. She took the flower and began carefully collecting the petals, the chiming noise making nearly silent crashes of shattering crystal with each pluck. Before long, she had a handful of pale green petals in one hand, and a bare flower head in the other.  
"Eat these, and mark my forehead and chin with this?" She asked for clarification, holding up each hand she referred to.  
Ayogan closed his eyes slowly with a smile and replied, "That's the hardest part, my dear. I have the fullest faith that you will handle the rest of the experience just fine."

Keeping the limited time in mind, Sisylia unceremoniously scarfed the petals, widening her eyes with delight at their powerfully delicious flavor. In her excitement, she gripped the remainder and marked her forehead and chin as instructed, and proceeded to finish the petals while moving to her resting area with a content smile. Though it was a minuscule portion, whatever hunger she may have experienced was satiated completely as if she had just eaten a full meal. That sensation surprised her and she nestled herself on the floor beneath the boughs of the tree, marveling at this new magic being revealed to her.

"The effects should take hold rather quickly. Now, get some more rest. I'll remain here to navigate further. Whatever comes and whatever you encounter, just remember that it is essentially nothing more than a dream, and you are ultimately safe here. I will fall silent now until you return. I hope this answers whatever questions you may have. Thank you for trusting me enough to use this method." He spoke finally before his face suddenly solidified into the side of the tree with his gaze frozen down upon her.

Sisylia laid back and waited, a serene peace filling her mind and spirit. She began to count the leave of the branch in their stillness, passing the time until something notable happened. She felt light and suddenly realized that she could barely feel the boat beneath her. She could barely notice her hands or feet, and began to doze in her weightless sensation. Her eyelids fluttered, and she noticed the leaves of the tree rising into the sky.

Were the leaves rising? Or was she sinking? She thought sinking was impossible, because she was lying in the boat. But the tree couldn't grow more, surely not as fast as it was ascending into the sky before her very eyes. She lifted a hand to reach for it, but saw that her arm stretched upwards in an equally unrealistic manner. The sight shocked her, but she resolved it just being an effect of the spell and took a deep breath to relax, closing her eyes for the briefest moment.

An instant later she reopened her eyes to find herself in a void. Pure blackness surrounded her, where she had once been with her friend in a fog bank, she was now floating in an endless sea of starless black. Her orientation was askew, as nothing could tell her what was up or down with her weightless feeling denying her that information. She began to worry, thinking that something had gone awry, and her heart quickened in her chest. Just as the realization of her isolation set in, she remembered her instructions, 'Do not lose the Voice', and began to wonder if she had missed it at all and gotten lost by accident. She opened her mouth to speak, but also felt that this moment was a time where she was meant to silently observe, so she held her voice inside, still worried as she floated through the infinite nothingness.

Suddenly, in her mind, she heard a voice drastically unlike her own. It was not the voice she thought with, nor was it the voice she used to read to herself. It was foreign, almost intrusive in its placement if not for the benevolent and loving presence that accompanied it. 

"Sisylia! I am finally able to meet you! There are no words to describe how I have longed for this moment!" The Voice wavered in its excitement, as if it were on the verge of weeping with joy over what it was saying.  
Sisylia began to answer, but thought again that she should observe. The Voice seemed to understand what she was thinking and, before the thought even concluded in Sisylias' mind, the soothing resonance began again.  
"Oh, no! You may speak freely here! We are safe in this place! Please, say what you will! I have waited so very long to have a chance to hear you for myself!"

"Who am I speaking to?" Sisylia asked into the void. Her voice was muffled and muted in the emptiness, and she feared she might not be heard at all. "Who's there?"

As the words exited her mouth, she saw figures in the blackness begin to churn and writhe until they formed a womanly silhouette, standing sideways off in the distance. The figure began to approach, but remained obscured in the surrounding blackness as it drew closer. As her eyes focused in the darkness, she could see features begin to form inside the approaching outline.

Suddenly, the figure crossed a great distance to come into view, and Sisylia looked upon her face and felt tears begin to form in her eyes. She blinked and cleared her eyes, letting the tears flow down her cheeks as she beheld the most beautiful woman she had ever set her eyes upon. There was nothing outstanding about her aside from her radiance. Everything about her was perfect. She was a creature that could only exist in a dream, Sisylia thought, for no waking world could ever deserve to have such a being grace its land with her footsteps. With flowing locks of rich brown hair that shimmered beyond the bounds of vision with a spectrum of colors Sisylia had never imagined before, the woman smiled as if ecstatic to be able to answer such a simple question.

She smiled and clasped her hands to her chest. "I am Xiel, and I am so very happy to meet you."

Xiel extended her arms and drew closer, revealing to Sisylia that she was in fact much taller than she was originally lead to believe. Xiel, who stood sideways in the darkness, reached out to touch Sisylia and righted her in the void, effortlessly lifting her up and cradling Sisylia in her arms in a motherly embrace. Sisylia, taken aback by the sudden realization that Xiel wa sso much taller than her, let her head rest against her chest and nestled herself in the embrace, letting their contact say what their words couldn't. Sisylia had never felt more safe in her entire life, and could not have dreamed that such an overwhelming sense of love could exist, let alone be directed to her.

"Xiel?" Sisylia began, stricken dumb by the positive emotions that embraced her very heart. "It's... very nice to meet you, too."


	4. Lucidity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> its short but i made it happen because i hate dialogue

The initial feelings of unease Sisylia had felt upon waking in this empty environment faded the moment she touched Xiel. The closer their contact, the more her disorientation faded and her confusion cleared entirely. Sisylias instincts had told her at the beginning of the experience to proceed defensively, and her immediate reaction to hearing Xiel in her mind had made her worry that the Dreamblossom had either inebriated her or loosened her grip on her senses.

She reflected on these thoughts and chuckled to herself, now understanding that for all the merit her defensiveness warranted at such an alien experience, her trust in Ayogan and the safety she felt in Xiels presence reassured her that there was no danger that could reach her.

Despite the black nothingness that surrounded the two, Sisylia suddenly realized how odd it was that she could even see Xiel or herself. She held up her hand in front of her face and marveled at it, as though she could see it with a greater detail here than in the waking world. She noted how, even in this place, nothing seemed to cast any shadow, nor could she find a source of light that would be bright enough to illuminate Xiel as perfectly as she was. The fantastical nature of everything that was adding up in her mind caused her to laugh a little harder.

She laughed at the absurdity of being raised in a scholastic monastery, yet being kept so largely ignorant of such otherworldly things such as this. She laughed at her few limited experiences with Magic in the past and how they paled in comparison to this phenomenal sight. While living in the monastery, she saw common spells such as Elemental Mastery or Shapeshifting to be some of the most astounding feats possible, but the few months she spent on The Sword Coast had shattered her misconceptions that these abilities were rare or difficult to master.

Her thoughts returned to the monastery briefly and she flinched. Her body stiffening momentarily before realizing that for the first time since leaving, she could actually remember the monastery. But more shocking, there was no pain. She could remember and there was no pain!

Her memory bloomed at this realization, and her mind wandered fervently between her former sisters, the layout of the monastery, ceremonies she attended, and roles she played through her time there, but... she felt something missing. Something important was missing from every major memory she recalled. She imagined each of her memories as paintings that moved in time with her recollection, but someone had cut out the same important detail from every significant canvas. This absence caused her no pain, but was the first real discomfort she experienced in this place with Xiel, and it manifested audibly as Sisylias laughter halted abruptly with the development.

Though she still could not tell if "up" even meant anything in this place, she could feel Xiel gently swaying, her warmth and empathy only growing as Sisylia laughed, and even as the laughter halted, the swaying continued. Xiels countenance did not change at the evident shift in the mood, and she smiled as she danced through the void, cradling Sisylia in her arms like a mother holding her child.

Adoring the embrace and believing she could lose herself in this endless dance in a heartbeat if she so wanted to, Sisylia felt that Xiels movements could suddenly only be interpreted as inquisitive. Breaking away from the trance-like movements, Sisylia sat up with her newfound clarity of thought, and decided to test what kind of control she possessed in this place. With a thought, she found herself suddenly floating up and away from Xiels arm. She spun to look at the dryad, and Xiel was struggling to hide her astonishment, and nodding encouragingly to Sisylia to continue exploring what she could do here.

Silently understanding the nod, Sisylia concentrated for a moment to focus on Xiel and her towering height, and with a blink of her eye, Xiel stood before her at a more comparable height. Sisylia found that Xiel was still well over a foot taller than her, but it was more agreeable than the towering form she had assumed prior.

Upon seeing what Sisylia had managed to accomplish, she clapped excitedly and took Sisylias hands in hers.  
"Wow, you did that fast! Most others need to visit four or five times before they learn how to do what you did!"  
"Learn how to do what, move around?" Sisylia asked, half teasing.  
Xiel laughed at the dismissive nature of her reply and nodded, holding up a four fingers, "You're the fourth person that's ever managed to do it on your first visit!"  
Sisylia smirked and skeptically raised a brow, "The fourth, is it? Out of how many?"  
Xiel shook her head with an incredulous smile, "Count every finger on every hand in Baldur's Gate and you're still a few hundred short!"  
The gravity of that claim hit Sisylia like a lightning bolt and the shock in her eyes caused Xiel to break into hysterical laughter. "That's the same face the last two made! I can't believe it!

Sisylia was coming to understand that this place was having a strange, though not at all negative, effect on her emotions. She wondered if Xiel felt the same thing she felt, and if existing in a place such as this one contributed to her excitable personality. There was an empathic aura in this place, she thought. She felt that she could feel whatever Xiel felt, but amplified. She suspected that the same was true for Xiel, and that Xiel would be wholly in tune with everything she had felt and would feel. She wouldn't have appreciated this level of communication with anyone other than Xiel, and made certain to harbor this feeling of singular trust in her heart, so that if Xiel could feel it like she suspected, she most definitely would.

It seemed successful, and Xiel eased in her laughter the moment Sisylia began to dwell on that trust.  
"And so you know why you are here now, I trust?" Xiel asked calmly with hope in her voice.  
Sisylia took a deep breath and let out a long and exasperated sigh, shaking her head and running her hand through her hair.  
"I... Do, actually." She blinked, and her face winced a few times, and she gently slapped her face as if trying to wake herself up.  
Xiel backed away and took a seated position, lacing her fingers and leaning forward to rest her chin on them, the long bladed leaves that made her hair falling off her shoulders as she moved. "Do tell, do tell!"  
Sisylia pressed her fingers against her temples.  
"It's so strange. It's like I can really think for the first time since arriving at Baldur's Gate. While I was there, every thought of mine pulled me to the monastery, and every time I thought of it..." She sneered and cut a sidelong glance to Xiel, who nodded at Sisylias implication.

"But now, I can think again. I can remember! And it's... This place that's letting it happen?" Sisylia stated as a question, but felt a soft discordant wave pulse through the air and turned to look at Xiel, who had glanced away and was pouting sarcastically.

"This place, and you?" Sisylia asked, correcting herself. Xiel looked back with a beaming smile and nodded with a wink, gesturing with her hands for Sisylia to continue.  
"But in everything I remember... Something isn't right. As if there's a veil covering someone every time I try to think of them. They're... Someone close to me, but I don't know who they are. And this makes no sense, because I remember everything else so clearly now!"  
Xiel tilted her head to one side and nodded. "And that's where I want to help." She said, her bubbly demeanor shifting to a serious but pleasant tone. "Tell me, love. What's the last thing you remember?"

As the question left her mouth, Xiel looked around with a slight confusion to note that they seemed to be darkening. She didn't concern herself too greatly with it, as the realm belonged to her, but she struggled to mask the slight unease she felt to prevent Sisylia from catching her surprise. Looking back to Sisylia, she noted the light around her fading as well, and the girls eyes were transfixed on an empty space behind and above the dryad.

"... Sisylia?" Xiel asked, before feeling the tremendous and awesome fear of the memory unbound.

Sisylia shivered, looking into the blackness, the incredible images replaying in her mind. Her eyes widened in amazement, and she whispered to Xiel, hints of a smile on the edges of her mouth.

"I remember... The Silver Dragon!"


	5. The Round Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> World building and more dialogue. I knocked out two tiny passages in one day I feel pretty good about it but now i gotta figure out where to go from here.
> 
> thoughts or whatnot might be nice if you skim this!

Rooted and grafted to the back end of the boat as a broad shade tree, Ayogan rested his eyes and sat in a meditative state. The ocean around him was as still as a pond as far as he could see, with the only sound coming from the rocking boat lapping the water beneath it, and a hushed murmur any time the wind decided to breeze by. He looked at the branches stemming overhead from his outstretched arms and felt certain they would provide ample cover even when the sun began to set.

While he sat, he listened to the conversation taking place somewhere else. Tucked away in a space between dreams and the waking world, Xiel listened to Sisylia, and Ayogan listened to Xiel. He listened closely to her recollections, and he felt his heart swell with joy at the freedom in her expressions. He had watched helplessly as she struggled to suppress a lifetime of memories following her recovery, and felt such tremendous relief at being able to facilitate this reprieve for her, even though it was of Xiels design.

Hearing Sisylia speak once again so fondly of her old monastery and former order, The Sisterhood of Silver Scales, flooded his mind with his own fond memories of the church. As he thought them, Xiel felt them and knew them as well, which gave her a deeper understanding of Sisylia even while she listened to her stories. He thought about the times he had worked with the Sisterhood in the past, having an appreciation for their goals and values.

The Sisterhood of Silver Scales mission was the recovery, restoration, archival, and safeguarding of powerful artifacts from around the world. Their monastery occupied a precarious ledge on the eastern face of Mount Edyr, a mountain with a peak that had never been seen by mortal eyes. The ledge sat several hundred feet above the water, and the ridge formed by it ran south and down for a few miles, leveling out into a beach that was home to the small fishing village of Eddindock before continuing on another few miles as beach before trees overtook the beaches in the wetlands further south.

The Sisterhood played important roles in the village of Eddindock, and the other surrounding towns and settlements. An order with an equal measure of soldiers as well as scholars, they served as peacekeepers, advisors, arbitrators, and enforcers among just a few of the duties they felt called to fulfill. Valued by common-folk and nobility alike for the fair and just nature of their guidance, Mount Edyr was a better place for their presence.

Which is why it perturbed Ayogan so deeply when his next thoughts were overtaken by the last time he had laid eyes on the monastery. The scene flashed through his mind as he heard muffled words, as if spoken from underwater.

I remember... The Silver Dragon.

He opened his eyes, and found himself standing on the beach of Eddindock beneath the towering Mount Edyr. He was pushing his boat out to sea, and took his final glance at the monastery, proudly towering over its ward in the evening light. He remembered the melancholy of knowing he likely wouldn't ever see it again after he set off to sea, and how he was just about to turn away for the last time when he noticed the church shifting and moving in the distance. It began like a landslide, the entire structure sloughing off the side of the mountain, and it mortified Ayogan to witness the horrible tragedy that the sudden, spontaneous collapse of the building meant.

He remembered screaming in vain protest at the sight, his mind racing to all of those he knew inside, specifically Sisylia, but as the building fell into the ocean below, a great eruption of fire and force centered deep beneath the mountain detonated and blew the newly loose debris from the church skyward and into the ocean. The explosion capsized his boat in the shallow water, and he took cover from the falling boulders and stones that caused widespread damage to the nearby towns.

Shaken by the memory, he thought deeply on the scenes that followed. In the resulting fireball that filled the crater that was once the monastery, a new detail stood out in his mind. In that flame, he recalled a massive shimmering white form of a great beast that tore itself from the flames and broke away into the sky and through the cloud cover towards the peak of Mount Edyr. At the time he had assumed it was some powerful spell or incantation gone wrong, or perhaps some artifact in their vaults had suffered a catastrophic malfunction. But as he listened through Xiel and heard Sisylia speak of a Silver Dragon, just as his own memories revisited his own accounts of the event, things seemed to fall together a little bit more, though to what degree that was helpful, he didn't yet know.

"Tell her our plan." He said aloud, breaking the silence of the stillness around him. In their place between places, Xiel heard Ayogan and smiled, nodding in a way only he could percieve. Xiel watched Sisylia and waited for her enchantment to subside, not wanting to rush her through her first opportunity to remember her encounter with a Silver Dragon.

"Do you remember anything else?" Xiel asked in a soothing and pleasant cadence. She drew a slight amusement from Sisylias confounded expression.  
But Sisylia snapped back to her focus and winced once more, as she did when painful memories were agitated. "I'm sorry, no. And I only recall a glimpse of this dragon. Everything else is..." She blinked firmly, as though a bright light shone in her eyes. "Everything before and after I see it... It's just blinding brightness. It's the strangest thing! It's as if I can't look at my own memories!"

"And this is where I believe I can help you, my dear." Xiel offered, reaching a hand out and placing it on Sisylias cheek and softly caressing her temple with her thumb.  
"Help me? Help me what, remember?" Sisylia replied calmly, the touch easing her mind away from the blinding thoughts.  
"Indeed..." Xiel continued, her voice becoming somber and serious. "Though it might be difficult for you to do so. Would you like me to explain further?"  
Sisylia nodded, feeling so many emotions battle inside her. She wanted to know, but could tell by the shift in Xiels voice more-so than her verbal warning that she was not going to enjoy the process.

Xiel began, "You have noticed many strange things about this place, but I will be clear with you as to how this works. Here, normally it is just the two of us that share everything, Gan and I. Our pains, our joys, our sorrows, our thoughts, our ideals, our ambitions, nothing is secret between us. And we have made you a part of this now. Though you are not as deeply connected as we are now, as we all grow together, you may yet be.

As you share with us, so can we share with you. Through me, should the both of you wish, you may see things the other has seen. And he would like you to see what he saw, in the hopes that we all may come to understand exactly what happened to your Order. It will be difficult, but in this place, you may find your feelings easier to process when learning this way. Would you like to see?"

Sisylia took a sharp breath and nodded, not wanting to shirk away from the confirmation of the uncomfortable truth that lay before her.  
"Quickly." She said, placing her hand on the back of Xiels hand that still rest on her cheek.

Sisylia closed her eyes, and at the speed of thought she witnessed the entire recount through Ayogans eyes. She saw the collapse and explosion of her home of over twenty years, and felt the full weight of the helplessness he felt as he watched. She saw the shimmering white beam of living light flee the fireball to the peak of Mount Edyr, and nearly fainted with empathic relief as she watched Ayogan recover her unconscious body from the wreckage. The entire scene of hours and hours filling her mind as the speed of a lightning strike. As Xiel took her hand away, Sisylia struggled to come to terms with all of this new information so quickly.

"Take all the time you need to process this, dear." Xiel said timidly. She felt the turmoil inside Sisylia and grieved for having to bear this news to her.  
Sisylia sat quietly for several moments before closing her eyes and rising to her feet, a knowing smile on her face.  
"I had imagined something terrible had happened. It only made sense since my every thought around my home caused me harm. But seeing this has removed so much doubt I had, and I thank you both for this, as difficult as it has been, is, and will continue to be." The strength in her voice was clear, but the place they occupied told Xiel and Ayogan both of how deeply the loss of her home had stricken Sisylia.

"Well... We want to know more, still. We believe some... greater force was responsible for this, and we all want answers. But we feel you deserve to know above all else." Xiel said, a spark of hope brightening her voice. "And it's quite simple! We just have to revisit the location and Gan needs to convene with the plants with me! I can hear the history from them directly, and we can get to the bottom of what happened once and for all."

Sisylia cast her gaze downward to think on the proposal, still silently reeling from the images played before her. She nodded and wearily put a hand on her forehead.  
"I'm all for this, but... Am I supposed to get tired here? I thought I was asleep for this."  
Xiel nodded sympathetically, "You are, but even here your mind can be overwhelmed when given as much to handle as you've been given. You can rest here, and when you wake, you will rise in the waking world once more. Only this time, you should be able to hear me whenever you want to, now." The dryad smiled at the handy quirk of the spell.

Sisylia peeked from beneath her hand and saw that Xiel had once again become giant in size and was scooping her up in the same cradling embrace as before. Not one to object to this tender treatment, Sisylia melted against her body and settled to rest, the onset of her sleep rapid as she muttered to Xiel a heartfelt "Thank you."

As the girl drifted into her deepest sleep, Xiel and Gan spoke between themselves.

"It didn't go entirely how I had imagined it would, but it went better than I guess I could have expected." He started.  
"Planning things like this are just ways to disappoint yourself!" Xiel quipped. "But wasn't it impressive how she started moving around? Just like you did! Maybe that's why we both like her so much!  
"I'm a little astounded that you're so astounded!" Ayogan laughed. "There was no doubt in my mind that she'd take control of the situation like that!"  
"I am glad to see her so relieved of that burden she carried. I am so eager to learn the truth and fell the fools responsible for causing her so much grief! Do you believe this can be done?" Xiel asked, knowing his answer, but wanting to hear him verbalize it openly.  
"I do." He said aloud, continuing the rest in his mind for Xiel alone to hear. "And even if our first plan doesn't work, we'll figure something out. I have no doubt in my mind."

Xiel smiled and felt herself fading into a resting meditation of her own, slipping back into the recessed of Ayogans mind to listen and observe through his senses.

He piped up, just as she sealed herself away, "Hey, you never did tell her how we met! She missed you telling my favorite story!" He shouted into the void, watching her vanish into the void with a wild laughter and letting her keenly playful smile be the last thing he saw before she disappeared into the emptiness.

Ayogan opened his eyes and surveyed the still ocean around him, Sisylia asleep under his shade in front of him, and Xiel diminishing back into the deepest corners of his mind until called again.

As he smiled at his sudden solitude, his eyes fixated on what he had sought for countless days. An impossibly tall mass dotted the farthest edge of the horizon as the peakless spire of Mount Edyr came into view.


End file.
